2nd Suspect Charged in Costco Shootout

A second suspect was charged with capital murder Monday in the Aug. 13 robbery attempt at the Costco store in Van Nuys, in which one customer was killed.

Ignacio Cervantes Chavez, 47, was charged in the afternoon shootout with an armored truck guard. His arraignment was continued from Monday until Aug. 28.

Ramon Gutierrez, 38, whom police believe is Chavez’s brother as well as his accomplice, remains hospitalized with a gunshot wound to his leg.

Gutierrez has not yet been arraigned because the felony charges require him to be present in court, a Los Angeles County district attorney spokeswoman said.

Each man is charged with a count of murder with the special circumstance that it occurred during a robbery, three counts of attempted murder and a count of attempted robbery, Deputy Dist. Atty. Kateri Modder said. The district attorney’s office said it will not make a decision on whether to seek the death penalty until after the men’s preliminary hearings.

Police say Chavez and Gutierrez carefully planned the robbery, which began on a busy Sunday afternoon as an armored truck belonging to Sectran Security made a scheduled stop at the Costco warehouse store on Sepulveda Boulevard. As guard Daniel Salazar returned to the truck with a bag of cash and checks, police say he was ambushed by two men, one armed with an assault rifle.

Salazar, who exchanged fire with the suspects, made it safely to the armored truck, whose driver then backed into the suspects’ van. Police found the van disabled about a mile from the store and a bleeding Gutierrez a few hundred feet from it. Chavez was arrested at his Van Nuys home Thursday night after police traced the van’s ownership.

The two injured customers, Kien Chau, 57, and his wife, Bachtuyett Tran, 51, are still hospitalized with gunshot wounds, authorities said.

Owen Wolf, 29, a Studio City movie production assistant, was fatally shot in the head.